Stress and anxiety management: In an attempt to hold our lives together, unhealthy habits develop.
If you have read my first two articles on stress management during socioeconomic struggles then you will connect with the next statement. If not, go back and read them and then come back to this one.
“Adults are dead children.”
That statement is from Michael Brown the author of the book “The Presence Project.”
If you are attempting to reach a level of achievement that the media is painting a picture of, then the statement “Adults are dead children” is true. It means that you have forgotten your true self and have become robotic and are following someone else’s ideas of where you should be in life.
And as a result perhaps you feel defeated, like a failure and that creates stress that can lead to unhealthy habits so you drink too much, smoke too much, eat too much. And then you realize the aliveness you were once aware of is dead.
And you think….Where did the feelings of “I can do anything” go?
How does that happen? And how do we break out of the rut we have created?
Here is a client’s story of how he needed to hold it together and how it was nearly impossible and how alcohol came into his life in order to quell unnatural feelings and how in the end he reconnected to his true self once again. And haven’t you felt this way too?
RICK’S JOURNEY BACK TO HIS TRUE SELF
Rick entered my office very anxious and in the interview it became clear to me that fear was driving the anxiety. His fear of “being discovered.” He had created a façade to protect himself from the truth of the real situation; he was failing in his work and financially but didn’t want anyone to know.
So you see the façade he created had a positive intention (although he was feeling the negative effects of it). The positive intention was to appear to be successful, even though he wasn’t yet where he wanted to be in his business goals. Now, some might say this is a good strategy, the ‘ACT AS IF’ method, however if that method gets in the way of a person being their authentic self it can be counterproductive.
Other ways his façade was counterproductive:
He was so preoccupied with worry that someone would “find out” that he was not as successful so he exhausted himself and used alcohol to cope. He increased the need to be seen at highbrow events, used name-dropping and in the process he developed a persona that he didn’t recognize. The façade appeared successful but inside he was depressed and thing began to fall apart.
The alcohol threw his exercise and sleep routines off, he felt little joy and no self-acceptance, “I’m a fraud,” he told me in one of our sessions. I replied, “perhaps only an imposter, let’s bring the Real Rick back please.”
During our four months of work together, I used hypnosis to reconnect him to his true, authentic self, the part of them that possessed his talent and abilities and was awaiting his return. It worked:
Positive changes noted each session-
- Focusing on me more and my need for emotional well being
- Seeing problems from a new perspective and they are manageable from this view
- Limiting alcohol use, sees it as more social, then a crutch
- I’m catching myself starting to close down and then I open up instead
On his 11th session, the man that arrived was relaxed, confident, honest, and in problem-solving mode, he said he cleaned his apartment, and was cleaning up some destructive relationships and alliances and had started attracting a more suitable clientele. Things were changing. He looked more relaxed and had a sparkle in his blue eyes.
SHARE THIS if you know someone that is out of touch with the real meaning in life or who is using alcohol or other unhealthy choices to cope.
PROFESSIONAL HELP FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT
We offer stress and anxiety management therapy for individuals who are experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety call for consultation on our Stress Management Therapy sessions at 972-974-2094.